Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Massive 100-Car Pileup; E. Coli Meat Recall; Snow, Slush and Security; Snow Plow Slowdown?; Ford, Chrysler Recalls; More Jobs in 2011?; Cash In On 2011; Oprah Coming Into Her "OWN"; Keeping One Million People Safe; Dawning Age of Boomers
Aired December 31, 2010 - 05:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Friday, December 31st. I'm Christine Romans. I know, another year in the books, man. Kiran Chetry has the morning off.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Right. And I'm Joe Johns, and I've got to tell you, all my electronics are malfunctioning. Because I woke up this morning and sure enough, it said December 31st, 2010, and I was like, wasn't it just December 31st, 2009, like, yesterday?
ROMANS: I know! We haven't aged a bit.
JOHNS: Unbelievable. Here we are.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: Last day, last Friday of the year -- in the decade, actually.
ROMANS: A lot of news today, too.
JOHNS: Wow. A lot to talk about today. It'll be a party and a fortress as a million people begin to gather in Times Square to ring in 2011. An army of police will be working to make sure the event is safe. We're live in Times Square ahead of the biggest celebration in the world.
ROMANS: The weather is going out with a bang and a crash. Blizzard-like conditions caused a massive 100-car pile-up near Fargo, North Dakota and extreme weather is wreaking havoc from L.A. to Mississippi. How that could affect your New Year's plan ahead.
JOHNS: And more worries about the food we all eat. A California firm recalling over 34,000 pounds of ground beef that may contain the potentially deadly E.Coli bacteria. The packages were sold in at least six states. Check out your freezers for 16-ounce packages of Nature's Harvest or Organic Harvest ground beef bricks and patties.
ROMANS: And always cook your hamburger all the way through. But first, Happy New Year, Auckland, New Zealand, one of the first to ring in 2011. These are live pictures.
JOHNS: That's fantastic and beautiful pretty good weather, I guess. Probably better than here, although it's going to be nice we're told for New Year's Eve tonight. This is live look at the party there. It said to be their biggest celebration since the new millennium.
ROMANS: That is another of -- this might be the only New Year -- I wore my red crush velvet for you.
JOHNS: It's all good.
ROMANS: Just a few blocks away in Time Square, people already showing up for a celebration still 18 hours away and the city's dealing with a few new challenges this year.
On top of all of the security, yes, piles and piles of snow and allegations that clean-up workers let it sit on purpose. Allan Chernoff is live in Time Square for us this morning. Good morning, Allan.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and my question is, hey, where is the party? Don't these people know that we're only 18 hours away from a New Year? I mean, come on, I'm in the middle of the planet, Time Square and there's nobody here.
I'm assuming that eventually people are going to show up for this party and when they do, it'll be an incredible event. There's going to be music, dancing, confetti, fireworks, and, of course, behind me, way up there the big, famous -- that ball coming right down, six tons, about 2,700 crystals surrounding the ball. It's going to be quite an event.
They say there'll be 1 million people here in Time Square. I did the math last year, the way the police put everybody into a pen, it's not quite a million, but it's a lot of people. They say a billion people will be watching on TV. And guess what? This year you can actually follow it on the Time Square Ball app for your mobile device.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF STRAUSS, PRESIDENT, COUNTDOWN ENTERTAINMENT: Hear the big news? We have a Time Square Ball app. After a hundred years of silence, the Times Square Ball actually talks, you go to timesquareball.net, and it actually talks and you actually see the event live on our app wherever you are, whether you're at a bar, party, or at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: That's timesquareball.net and boy, this celebration has come a long way. Do now know only 16 years ago they actually manually pulled that ball down, six guys on top of one Time Square manually pulling it down. I actually saw that happen.
Not on New Year's Eve, but before. I was up there. I saw how they did it. Nobody really knew. They thought, yes, that switch and it comes down. Now it really is computer controlled. But they used to use a stopwatch also just to make sure the ball got down. It was a little smaller back then, only weighed about 150 pounds.
ROMANS: A million people around the world who were watching that and it was -- what about the snow there though? Have they moved all the snow out of Time Square? I mean, the piles and piles of snow are beyond where you are.
CHERNOFF: Yes. The snow is basically gone. I mean, even -- even, you know, there's so many people going through Time Square that, you know, it turns to slush pretty quickly.
I mean, they did clear it out -- there's very little snow around here. That's not a problem right here. Quite different than the outer boroughs, some of those streets in Brooklyn and Queens and the Bronx still piled deep.
JOHNS: For the record, Allan, on my way in here, I did see people out on the streets singing already. So I think there are a lot of people getting a head start.
ROMANS: Was that last night or a head start for tonight, I'm sure?
JOHNS: They've probably been doing it all week. There are some people who are glad to see 2010 go.
ROMANS: All right. Allan Chernoff. Thanks, Allan.
CHERNOFF: Thank you.
JOHNS: Extreme weather now. It has been messy and treacherous out there this end to 2010. A burst of heavy snow socking some higher parts of Arizona and New Mexico, the storm marching east this morning.
ROMANS: And further north, a tangled mess of cars on the interstate. A blizzard causing a 100-car pile-up on I-94 near Fargo, North Dakota, but reports say no one was seriously hurt.
JOHNS: Which is good news. Reynolds Wolf in the Extreme Weather Center so what about this weather coming west to east? Is it going to see us real soon?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is going to be treacherous. It's already seeing part of the country in very rude awakening this morning. I'll tell you. Currently we have a tornado watch in effect. We've been talking about winter weather, but still almost like a spring-like event in some locations.
Let's go right to the map. We're going to zoom in on a few key locations where you have some issues this morning weather wise. First and foremost, we do have that tornado watch that is in effect for parts of Missouri. You see the area shaded in red.
That is going to remain in effect until about 8:00 Central Time. The other part that we've been talking about, obviously, the heavy winter weather that is now striking parts of the northern plains. It's not only snow, where some places may see up to 8 to 14 inches of snowfall through Saturday morning, but also the winds of 35 to 45 miles per hour.
Every spot you see shaded in red, including parts of the central plains and northern plains, including the Dakotas, you have the blizzard watches or warnings. You want to see what a blizzard can do. Well, take a look at this video. This video sent by Doug from Minnesota, this is parts of the I-95 corridor.
When we talk about blizzards, we mentioned that it is primarily a wind event, proof positive right here. Listen to that. You can just hear that wind just racing across those flat lands. Picks up the snow and it is just unbelievable.
Some places subzero conditions were expected or experienced last night. They will be experienced this morning and through much of the weekend so obviously the New Year ringing in with a vengeance. Let's go back to the weather computers if we can and show you what's in store. Things are not going to be bad for other parts of the country.
Desert southwest catching a little bit of a break. Same story for Southern California, although the clean-up remains, and then scattered rain showers all the way from the big easy of New Orleans, clear up to Chicago, it's going to be a possibility.
East coast, life is beautiful. D.C. looks beautiful today, high temperatures going to be a bit on the cool side. But all things considered, I think you pick your poison, certainly better there than in the northern plains.
High temperatures going into the 40s and 50s from New York to Washington to Raleigh. Coming up, we're going to take a peek at what you can expect as you ring in the New Year for the big celebration time. Plus, a look ahead for Monday and Sunday, huge travel days. Back to you guys.
ROMANS: Forty in New York that means get your galloshs ready for New Year's Day because all the snow got to melt.
JOHNS: You know, there's a midnight four-mile run that starts - I know people are going to be pretty happy about warmer weather.
ROMANS: Are you going to run that?
JOHNS: Yes, right.
WOLF: Why would you torture yourself?
ROMANS: I feel bad for you because the whole crew laughed hard at that suggestion. All right, Reynolds Wolf. Thanks.
If it's true, it's a total outrage, New York City is now investigating allegations that snow removal workers were told to take it slow to get back at the mayor.
Thousands of people in the city that never sleeps were socked in for days after last weekend's blizzard including some women who went into labor and ambulances, fire trucks, and police. Some people may have died because of what is being called a pathetic plowing attempt. David Ariosto joins us now. If true, it's certainly very serious.
DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, where the city has prided itself on its ability to respond. This week's holiday blizzard has left many people wondering why they're still digging out of the snow days after the storm hit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARIOSTO (voice-over): Allegations and accusations swept through the big apple just days after a monster blizzard blanketed roadways and runways, clogging neighborhoods and stranding thousands of travelers. At issue, whether New York City's sanitation workers were ordered to intentionally delay recovery efforts ahead of budget cuts to the department.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (I) NEW YORK: I don't think it took place, but we'll do an investigation to make sure it didn't. It would be an outrage if it took place, but I just don't know.
ARIOSTO: The rumors reached a fever pitch after a city councilman said three sanitation workers and two other state supervisors contacted him alleging sabotage.
(on camera): Do you personally think that sanitation workers and the supervisors would put New York City residents at jeopardy by not cleaning up the streets?
DANIEL HALLOAN, NEW YORK COUNCILMAN: Well, I don't think that these supervisors who made this call were looking at the big picture. I think they were looking at the short-term issue, which is 100 of them were about to be demoted.
ARIOSTO (voice-over): The president of the sanitation officers association could not be immediately reached for comment. He did respond, however, to the allegations on WNYW, a local TV station here in New York.
JOSEPH MANNION, SANITATION OFFICER'S ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: Absolutely not, no, no. There are absolutely no sanctions from the union or from the membership at all. They know their job. Snow is a serious aspect of our job, we know that.
ARIOSTO: Mayor Bloomberg occasionally mentioned as a presidential candidate has faced mounting criticism over the speed of this week's snow removal. But what actually went wrong is now the subject of investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARIOSTO: Now, reps we spoke to later often blamed the high winds and mechanical failures, but what's unclear is that this week's holiday blizzard will affect the political future of Mayor Bloomberg. One bit of good news though is he held a press conference yesterday as he always does giving updates about the storm and indicated nearly all streets in New York have been clear with the exception of a few streets that have some parked cars that are still being pulled out of the snow.
JOHNS: We're going to have a lot more on this later in the program. But just to put a finer point on it, the allegation is that the supervisors told the workers to slow down, not that the workers sort of did it on their own, right?
ARIOSTO: That's correct and it's coming mostly from one city councilman. They were saying about five workers, three sanitation workers and two supervisors were alleging this action. If it occurred, it would be a very serious allegation here in New York, but it's unclear if this is a pocket incident or it's true at all.
JOHNS: And the important thing for people to realize and why we spend so much time on this is because this city really sets the standard for so many other municipal governments.
And, you know, the question becomes if this is the kind of thing that's going to happen when you have a snowstorm and there are job issues, you know, what's going to happen to other cities around the country when they have a big snowstorm or hurricane?
ROMANS: And the broader question too, is if you're looking at a future with budget cuts around the country as we talk about fiscal restraint, is what's happening here setting a standard further down the road, fewer city services in general as America pays its bills? That's a much bigger, longer term picture.
JOHNS: A fascinating question too, yes.
ROMANS: All right, David. Thank you so much.
New this morning, he didn't walk softly, but this robbery suspect carried a big stick, a wooden staff. The store owner grabs a hammer in self-defense in a bizarre. Big stick versus --
JOHNS: That looks ridiculous.
ROMANS: The big stick, in case you're wondering, the robber jumped over the counter, subdued the store owner, making off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Kind of reminded us and our producer of the 2008 Florida hold-up -- the weapon of choice in that one, you guys, was a palm branch.
JOHNS: My gosh, that's ridiculous.
ROMANS: Needless to say, he got away empty handed.
JOHNS: You know, you're not supposed to make fun of crimes in progress, but that's really funny. ROMANS: I don't know if it's funny or stupid or both.
JOHNS: It is, well, the video's very funny.
ROMANS: Yes.
JOHNS: All right, got it. A big recalls to tell you about from Ford and Chrysler. The Chrysler recalls involve nearly 150,000 trucks and SUVS. There are issues with steering and air bags as well as some stalling problems involving certain Dodge Ram trucks and the 2009 Dodge Journey.
At Ford, close to 20,000 trucks and crossover SUVs are being recalled in the U.S. and Canada to fix an electrical problem that could start a fire. Those models include the F series pickup trucks and the Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers.
ROMANS: And the streak is over. The University Of Connecticut women's basketball team lost to Stanford last night 71-59. That ends their record-breaking run of 90 consecutive college basketball wins. The last time the Huskies lost, April 2008, beaten by --
JOHNS: It's incredible.
ROMANS: You guessed it, Stanford.
JOHNS: Yes, there's a real rivalry going on there. The funny thing, though, it wasn't that close apparently a very physical game.
ROMANS: Yes.
JOHNS: History comes to an end. Still to come, millions have watched her one hour at a time, but starting tomorrow, it's Oprah around the clock. The queen of talk launching her new network. A preview ahead.
ROMANS: And we plan to bring you the top 10 things to look forward to in 2011 when it comes to your money and the economy. Sorry, I couldn't come up with 10 things to look forward to, I came up with five. I'm going to give you five reasons to be happy about your money. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: New Year's Eve. New York is preparing for the annual New Year's Eve invasion at Times Square. That means at least two things, hundreds of thousands of screaming people from all over the world enduring bitterly cold temperatures - maybe not so much tonight - to ring in the 2011 at the crossroads of the world.
And CNN's own Anderson Cooper will be getting ready to spend the evening, alongside comedian Kathy Griffin, the always bleep-worthy Griffin, get your seven-section - second delay ready. They're co- hosting their fourth New Year's Eve live. You can watch the ball, the confetti, and the entire celebration live tonight, beginning at 11:00 P.M. Eastern on CNN. ROMANS: And it wouldn't be New Year's Eve without looking ahead to the new year and some forecasting and prognostication.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
ROMANS: I'm here with some bright spots, financially.
JOHNS: Oh, yes?
ROMANS: I - I put together a top 10 list for you.
JOHNS: Go on.
ROMANS: The things to be happy about for your - can you imagine? The things to be happy about for your money. My top 10 list - OK, it's only five.
JOHNS: Not so much. Right.
ROMANS: Yes. I only have five trends that are happy for the next year.
So one - I want to give you this one, top 10 reasons why to be happy about your money in 2011. OK, top five. Bank lending improves. Moody analytics -
JOHNS: That's good.
ROMANS: -- estimates that the commercial and industrial lending is going to increase by three percent. That means small business, you're going to probably have a better chance getting a loan next year.
The mass layoffs are over. We told you yesterday about jobless claims below 400,000 for the first time since July, 2008. If you are newly unemployed, you are likely to have a better chance of getting a job next year than if you have been longer term unemployed. That's a change.
Also, if you have a job, you're moving on to bigger and better things at work. Eighty percent of people want a new job, according to Manpower. Those are people with a job. That's up sharply. That means bosses know that you're ready to jump, and they're going to have to be nice to you. Maybe this is going to be your year to ask for a raise.
Interest rates still low, 4.8 percent - 86 percent on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage -
JOHNS: Well, these are all really good things.
ROMANS: And the debt purge continues, and that might feel like something that's not so happy, except it's a good thing for the country. People are getting rid of all of their credit card debt, their consumer debt. They're getting it under control again with their household finances after a very tough year in 2010. I think 2011 is the year some people are going to be able to start playing defense again - offense again. Sorry.
JOHNS: Why is it? Right.
ROMANS: Sorry. Terrible sports metaphor always getting me in trouble.
JOHNS: So why is it, though, that, you know, if you've been out of a job for six months, that it's hard to - to get a job or harder than it is for somebody who hasn't been out of work for long?
ROMANS: You know, Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, a lot of economists have talked about this. If you're out for six months or longer, they think that your skills are starting to erode, and you've got all these -
JOHNS: Just six months?
ROMANS: Six months. If you - it was a very dynamic and changing labor market.
If you are - if you're already one of these people who is on a job and you're looking for a new job, that means someone hiring has somebody who's employed they can choose from, somebody who's newly unemployed, somebody who's been out of work for a very long time. So I think that's going to be a big story, Joe, for 2011, what do we do about people who've been out of work six months or longer? What kind of retraining, what kind of structural issues are we going to address so that we can get people back to work?
JOHNS: Do you really think, though, we're now at the turn around point on the issue of unemployment?
ROMANS: At least stabilization. I - I don't know if you can say turn around yet, but if you keep - if you can stabilize the unemployment rate and then you can start creating jobs after that - we - you know, we created 951,000, I think, jobs last year.
JOHNS: Right.
ROMANS: The jobs were created - it's not enough to eat into the unemployment rate. That's something that the president and the administration are still going to have to be very dogged about next year.
JOHNS: So next year maybe we'll have a top 10 list.
ROMANS: Maybe next year we'll have a top 10 list. I could only come up with five. I tried real hard to get 10.
JOHNS: Well, that's good. These were good things.
ROMANS: Still to come, it's called "Boomergeddon." That's right, the '60s generation hitting their mid-60s and retirement. The problem Boomers woefully unprepared and heading for financial disaster.
JOHNS: The biggest party in the country, the biggest security assignment too. Inside New York's command center as they try to protect a million people in Times Square.
It's 20 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: All right. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning, everyone.
Oprah is making good on her New Year's resolution. The Queen of Talk launches OWN - new Oprah Winfrey Network tomorrow.
JOHNS: It's supposed to be chock-full of series and shows hand- picked and created by Oprah herself. A preview from CNN entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Joe and Christine, good morning.
The final countdown, it's officially underway. No, not just to New Year's, but to the day millions of Oprah Winfrey fans have been waiting for - the launch of her very own cable TV network.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPRAH WINFREY, TELEVISION PERSONALITY AND ICON: It all begins here.
WYNTER (voice-over): It's arguably the most ambitious endeavor of her career. A 24-hour television channel dedicated entirely to the vision of Oprah Winfrey.
WINFREY: I could take every hero who inspired me.
MATTHEW BELLANY (ph), TV EXPERT: The launch of O.W.N. is a huge deal in the television business.
WYNTER: TV expert Matthew Bellany (ph) says he knows what O.W.N.'s greatest strength and challenge will be.
BELLANY (ph): Oprah, she has a huge advantage in launching a network because she is a brand. The danger is that the programming may not live up to the brand. I mean, that's the big question mark.
WYNTER: Here's how Oprah plans to answer that question.
DR. PHIL MCGRAW, PSYCHOLOGIST AND TV PERSONALITY: This is a time for new beginnings.
WYNTER: In ask "Oprah's All-Stars", a live audience goes one-on- one with Dr. Phil, Suze Orman, and Dr. Oz.
WINFREY: Everybody has a story. WYNTER: "Master Class" profiles eight world icons. "Season 25" takes fans behind the scenes of Oprah's hit talk show. While "Big Bowl of Love" invites viewers into the kitchen of Christina Ferrari.
CHRISTINA FERRARE, "BIG BOWL OF LOVE": This is my dream come true chapter and this is what I love to do.
WYNTER: And for those who love clutter, Peter Walsh has "Enough Already."
PETER WALSH, "ENOUGH ALREADY": This is a show that looks at people's stuff but gives them a road map out of this overwhelming amount of clutter in their house.
WYNTER (on camera): And by, Peter, so many new networks fail. Why do you think this one is different?
WALSH: People want - want to - to be the best they can be. People want heroes. People want inspiration. Here at last is a level of programming that brings people that.
FERRARE: There are a lot of critics out there, and I personally don't understand why wouldn't she want to have this kind of programming when today all you see now are those shows about, you know, housewives pulling each other's hair.
WALSH: I know it's easy to be cynical or skeptical, but I for one am so excited about what's going to happen when that - that switch is flipped.
WYNTER: The switch gets flipped New Year's Day when viewers will decide whether they will shine a light on O.W.N.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WYNTER: And the first official program on O.W.N., it airs at noon on New Year's Day. It's going to be a two-hour special hosted by Oprah herself. It's going to be called Oprah's Guide to O.W.N. As for all of the Discovery health shows, only two will remain on the network, "Deliver Me" and "Mystery Diagnosis" - Joe, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Still to come, it's Google's world, you just live in it. Coming up, how Google could become your next phone company and whether that's a good thing.
JOHNS: And rain, ice, and snow. Storms leaving the west a total mess. And this, by the way, may be coming your way, where the extreme weather is heading for the first weekend of 2011.
It's 26 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Friday, December 31st. Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. This is a live look at Time Square right now. Weather should be perfect for tonight. Partly cloudy, temperatures in the low 30s.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Christine Romans.
JOHNS: And I'm Joe Johns. That is the place where everybody's going to be tonight. Quite - quiet at the moment, but it doesn't have so much snow, so that's a good thing.
ROMANS: And if you're not there, you're watching it somewhere.
JOHNS: Yes. Perhaps in bed.
It is 29 minutes after the hour.
Folks in the west, pummeled with snow, ice, and cold. Extreme weather causing a one hundred car pile-up near Fargo, North Dakota. The storm now taking aim at the Upper Midwest. Up to 10 inches of snow and wind chills at 35 degrees below zero forecast for the Dakotas.
ROMANS: Google could soon be your phone company? All the pieces are in place. They already sell phones, licensing the popular Android smartphone operating system. They're also venturing into the arena of Internet service provider. And Google Voice, the low-cost calling service, already has 1.4 million users.
JOHNS: Incredible.
Flu season is here and the Centers for Disease Control says it's already becoming a problem across the country. New York, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia reporting widespread outbreaks in the last week. The CDC recommends everyone six months and older protect themselves with a flu shot.
And I know some kids -- six months and older -- who are not going to like that shot one bit.
ROMANS: I know. I know some kids with (ph) Petri dishes, though, and are going to hate it.
JOHNS: Yes.
ROMANS: Call it organized pandemonium. That's a live look at Time Square this morning. Millions of people will pack that spot right there to see the ball drop.
JOHNS: And the NYPD is tweaking its plan, using lessons learned from botched terror attacks that took place just a few just months ago. Mary Snow goes inside the security force this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Joe, several thousand New York City police officers, including counterterrorism units, will be working at Time Square. The area will be frozen, and things like mailboxes and metal garbage bins will be removed from the streets for the night. And everyone going in will be checked.
CROWD: Three, two, one -- happy New Year!
(CHEERS)
SNOW (voice-over): A rehearsal in Time Square of the ball drop to ring in the New Year as thousands crowd around it to watch. Behind the scenes, the New York City's Police Department is gearing up for a massive security operation.
RAY KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: This is sort of a nerve center.
SNOW: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the department updates its plan each year to secure crowds who must be within barricades and go through metal detectors. Radiation detectors are also used. And backpacks are banned.
KELLY: We're concerned about a device that someone might bring in on their person -- a vehicle borne device, a vest of some sort, explosives on the body.
SNOW: Cars and sand trucks block side streets to try and prevent car bombs. Manhole covers on the streets are being sealed. Armed police officers will be on rooftops. The commissioner says the department is always looking to learn from terror incidents around the world, including the attempted car bombing in Time Square this year.
(on camera): This is also the first New Year's Eve since the attempted bombing back in May.
KELLY: May 1st. That's right. Faisal Shahzad.
SNOW: Lessons learned from that?
KELLY: Oh, sure. A lot of us. We're very lucky, no question about it. He was not in anybody's radar screen.
SNOW (voice-over): One thing that's different this year, cameras like these in Time Square now feed into this nerve center. Authorities say there are roughly 400 police and private cameras just in the Time Square area that can be monitored.
The private sector also works with the police. Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, says people staying in hotels in Time Square are restricted in terms of where they can go.
TIM TOMPKINS, PRESIDENT, TIMES SQUARE ALLIANCE: People may think I'm in a hotel, I can just wander into Times Square. Absolutely not. It's very, very controlled in terms of who gets out into the street. Once the pens are filled, it really is lockdown.
SNOW: Tompkins estimates the crowd could be anywhere from 750,000 to 1 million people.
KELLY: It is a big, complex operation. And, you know, you always breathe a sigh of relief when it's -- when it's over.
SNOW: The police commissioner says that recent terror-related arrests in Europe have given the NYPD, in his words, some cause for concern. But he says there are no specific threats against New York City -- Joe and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Mary Snow.
Still to come: Thousands of baby boomers are turning 65 every day in America. Do you know that next year, 10,000 boomers will turn 65 every single day? Well, one out of two of them won't be ready for retirement. Sound like you?
JOHNS: That's incredible.
ROMANS: Coming up next: I'm talking to the author of a book called "Boomergeddon."
JOHNS: I'm not ready.
ROMANS: It's 34 minutes after the hour.
What if we lived to be 100?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Tomorrow and every day for the next 19 years, more than 10,000 baby boomers in America will turn 65. Think of that. It starts a new demographic wave of retirements.
And according to the Center for Retirement Research, even if they work until their 65th birthday, well over half of baby boomers will be financially unprepared for retirement.
Joining us from Richmond, Virginia, this morning, the author of an incredibly great-titled book, "Boomergeddon," Jim Bacon.
Jim, welcome to the program. You know, baby boomers defined America, culturally, music -- I mean, you think of every investing mutual funds for the past 40 or 50 years has been a force. Now, they're all going to be hitting retirement and they're simply not ready, are they?
JIM BACON, AUTHOR, "BOOMERGEDDON": No, they certainly aren't. They haven't saved enough. They've got too much debt. Too few of them have defined benefit pensions. And they're all going to be relying upon Social Security and Medicare, which in 15 to 20 years could be in grave jeopardy.
ROMANS: We know that their parents were the children of the Great Depression, who saved and who went into their retirements, money saved, and even passing money on to their kids. Many people -- baby boomer generation will just simply be very different. Some even go so far -- I've heard a lot of very eloquent blame games of the baby boomers, they are the ones who enjoyed easy credit. They built big houses. They drove more cars than they needed. You know, they were self-indulgent generation.
It's not as simple as that, is it?
BACON: No, I think there is some truth to the self-indulgent idea. Baby boomers, one of the mantras of the 1960s was if it feels good, do it. So, there is an element of truth.
But as baby boomers matured, they kind of got over that. And now, you can call them the sandwich generation. They have older parents -- older parents are still alive. And many of them are not able to afford to take care of themselves. They need caretakers. And baby boomers have got to step in and fill that role.
At the same time, boomers also have children who are graduating from college with huge college debts. And now, they face a recession and they can't find a job. And so, what do they do? They come home and stay with mom and dad.
So, they've got -- they've got -- boomers have obligations all around that they're trying to fulfill.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: In a way, they're stepping up and taking in more responsibility than an entire generation --
BACON: Yes.
ROMANS: -- who might have said, you know, look, you know, you've graduated from high school. Now, you can go to college. You can go work in a factory. But, you know, take care of yourself.
But the boomer generation is more involved on both ends of the spectrum. Also, the boomer generation came of age -- and were working at the time when -- whenever there was a recession, it was still the most powerful economic engine in the world. There was no question that America was going to bounce back and bounce back strongly.
There's a questioning of America's role now that you didn't see before. And this is a pretty fierce recession that we've come out of that hasn't -- there just aren't a lot of jobs. That makes it a little different this time, a critical time for the boomers.
BACON: Well, sure. I mean, it's kind of hard to start -- suddenly start saving money as boomers know they need to do when if they're out of work or if they're unemployed or just working on temporary jobs. That's right.
ROMANS: You know, we've scared everyone to death. The "Boomergeddon" crowd is very worried. They're going to turn 65, could have another what 20 years in retirement in some cases. And then there's money saved for it.
It's not -- it's not a total -- it's not a total loss, you say. They need to reengineer their lives. There are things you can do. Tell me about that.
BACON: Well, yes, absolutely. Boomers clearly -- they know they need to save more. The question is how do you do it?
And the way a lot of people go about saving. They think about, well, what -- they think about, where do I spend my discretionary income? Maybe I'll eat out less or maybe we'll take a vacation. We'll drive to Myrtle Beach instead of flying to Cancun or spend a little bit less money at Christmas.
I mean, those are all valuable things to do and think about. But that -- the discretionary income constitutes maybe 20 percent of their total income. The big costs are in housing, transportation --
ROMANS: Health care.
BACON: -- health care, groceries, and things like that. So, they really need to -- they need to look at their total expense and not just the discretionary dollars.
ROMANS: Well, it's like a big national downsizing. I mean, look -- I mean, the baby boomer generation helped America upsize and live beyond its means for a very long time. And now, in retirement, the bottom line is: the cash coming in and the cash going out don't match and so you have to downsize. And that's what a lot of boomers are realizing, I think, in a crisis rather than of their own -- of their own volition. They might have to work later, too.
And we have an AARP survey on retiring that boomers -- more boomers are expecting they're going to have to work longer. That's just the bottom line here, right?
BACON: Oh, absolutely. I think one thing -- good thing you can say about boomers is that they've basically given a collective shrug and said, well, retirement's kind of not shaping up like I think -- like it ought to, I guess I'll have to return to work longer.
You contrast that to people of comparable age in France and Greece and places they're rioting and burning cars and things like that -- and clearly, our boomers are much more adaptable. And so, I think they've got the right idea.
ROMANS: All right. You know, the boomer -- the boomer generation also built so many of the big innovations of this country, too. You can't count them out. It's going to be fascinating to watch.
Jim Bacon, author of "Boomergeddon" -- thanks so much, Jim.
JOHNS: You know, in Washington, we always talk about raising the Social Security age and people are all up in a tizzy about that. I mean, it's a fact of life -- people are going to be working until 67 and 68 anyway. So --
ROMANS: One of the things that Jim says is he says, eat right, exercise, and live within or below your means. I mean, these are the things that we have to do because --
JOHNS: Brown muffins, for sure.
ROMANS: I mean, yesterday, I heard a story about in the U.K., the pensions department says that it's 1/5 or 1/6 of the people in the U.K. live to be 100 -- people alive today. I mean, that's got -- I can't afford to be 100. I don't know about you.
JOHNS: Well, it's the thing, you know? Hey, we'll figure out a way. When there's a will, there's a way.
Still to come: the NFL says the New York Jets must pay for the trip seen around the world. We'll tell you how much coming up.
ROMANS: Also ahead: extreme weather taking an extreme toll -- a 100-car pile-up ahead. Find out where this storm is going.
It is 43 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: It's 45 minutes after the hour, time for your top stories.
New York City police gearing up for a massive security operation tonight in Time Square as the first New Year's Eve since the attempted bombing in Time Square in May. Backpacks are being banned. Metal and radiation detectors are in place. And manhole covers are on the streets and being sealed.
Armed police officers will be on rooftops while 400 public and private cameras monitor the crowd. Up to 1 million people are expected.
ROMANS: The NFL fining the New York Jets $100,000 for the trip seen around the world. Earlier this month, assistant coach --
JOHNS: Why did he do that?
ROMANS: -- Sam Alosi stuck out his knee, tripping a Miami Dolphin player during a punt return. Alosi was suspended indefinitely and has been fined $25,000 by the Jets.
JOHNS: The body of a California snowboarder missing near a Lake Tahoe ski resort has been found in a tree well. It's a dangerous void around the base of a tree that's covered with loose snow. Authorities say 25-year-old Shawnte Marie Willis may have crashed and died from injuries and the freezing weather.
ROMANS: And if you thought your commute was bad, in North Dakota, two semis jackknifed in the snow. Ice, rain, causing 100-car pile-up --
JOHNS: Wow.
ROMANS: -- just west of Fargo, on Interstate 94. Four people were injured, and one critically. And if you've ever been in that kind of weather, I grew up in the plains in the Midwest, you can't -- you really can't see in front of you. You can be going so slowly and you can't see that there are 50 cars that are all just one after another. It's complete whiteout.
JOHNS: You can't see where to pull over.
ROMANS: I know. You can't see the road.
All right. It's 47 minutes past the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines.
Reynolds Wolf is in the extreme weather center. And that -- boy, those plains. It's all about the wind in the plains. All about the --
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: I mean, when you get a weather situation like that, it's pure insanity. I mean, just a raw stuff up there. And today, we're going to see even more of it. This morning, though, we're waking up to a variety of weather conditions. Not only snow, but also some strong thunderstorms and with it, we even have some tornado watches that are in effect.
We had some warnings earlier just the east of Oklahoma City. You'll notice this area shaded in red. This red box is where you happen to have your tornado watch. That's in effect until 8:00 Central Time.
But we've got something else to share with you. You see the rain here on the back half of the system. You see a little bit of pink popping on radar, that's some frozen precipitation, a little bit of sleet and snow. But back out towards the west of Oklahoma -- rather, Omaha, what you have, pure snow. And you have not only snow, but you also have something else going with it, you got some really strong wind gusts.
Through Saturday morning, we can expect anywhere from eight to 14 inches of snowfall. And wind gusts anywhere from 35 to 45, possibly some gusts approaching, say, 50, even 60. All the areas that you have you see shaded in red, especially in the Dakotas, that's where you have your blizzard warning -- blue, that's your blizzard watches.
You know, I want you to see and hear what a blizzard can be like. Let's take a look at this video.
(VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: Unbelievable. That was sent in by Doug (INAUDIBLE) of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Doug normally does work during a severe weather season covering tornadoes.
But trust me, some of the winds he picked up yesterday equally is impressive. Dangerous, dangerous situation we have that kind of weather unfolding. And that is a scenario we could see play out through a good part of the weekend. Finally, getting a little bit of a break in the northern plains as we get into late Sunday and into Monday.
Coming up, we're going to take a look at what to expect as we bring in around the New Year. And a little bit of hint to know, a lot of the cold air locked in the parts of the Central Plains will be rushing through a good part of the country. Be ready. 2011's going to come in a very cold way.
Let's send it back to you.
ROMANS: Wow, winter in the Midwest. I love it.
JOHNS: That video is just incredible.
ROMANS: Right.
All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
Still to come -- they said, what? Many politicians and public figures went of -- shall we say -- off the script this year and didn't always end well. Kiran was going to bring us the biggest oopsies of 2010. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
You know, in the hustle and bustle of an election year, a lot of people were -- they're saying a lot of things. Many things they might want to take back.
JOHNS: Yes, if you could just grab those words.
ROMANS: We'll rewind the tape.
JOHNS: Thankfully, we have the Internet to remember all the bombs and flubs. With that, Kiran Chetry brings you the gaffes of -- are we going to say 2010 or 2010?
ROMANS: Let's say 2010.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He said --
TONY HAYWARD, BP: I'd love my life back.
CHETRY: And she said --
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Obviously, got to stand were our North Korean allies.
CHETRY: Left foot --
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a big (EXPLETIVE DELETED) deal.
CHETRY: -- and right --
SHARRON ANGLE (R), FORMER NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: Some of you look a little more Asian to me.
CHETRY: -- planted firmly in mouth. And don't forget to talk to the hand.
It was the year of the gaffes. A year of election madness where some sound bites bit back.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.
CHETRY: There were newcomers.
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), FORMER DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you.
CHETRY: And some old favorites who never seem to disappoint.
BIDEN: God rest her soul. And although she's -- wait, your mom's still -- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: A year in which one candidate lost the confidence of an entire nation.
DAN REA, RADIO HOST: Yes, but now Scott Brown has Curt Schilling, OK?
MARTHA COAKLEY (D), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS SENATE CANDIDATE: Another Yankee fan?
REA: Schilling?
COAKLEY: Yes.
REA: Curt Schilling a Yankee fan?
COAKLEY: No. All right. I'm wrong.
REA: The Red Sox.
CHETRY: And where one decision left a city without its favorite son.
LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER: In this fall, I'm going to take my talents to South Beach.
CHETRY: Other athletes spent 2010 swinging and missing and apologizing.
TIGER WOODS, PRO GOLFER: am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.
CHETRY: Some other people own 2010 or at least 15 minutes of it.
JIMMY MCMILLAN, FORMER NY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Rent is too damn high.
JOHN TYNER, SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER: If you touch my junk, I'm going to have you arrested.
CHETRY: So, thanks, 2010. Thanks for the laughs --
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We cannot sustain. Oops!
CHETRY: -- and for the gaffes --
BIDEN: There's an old Irish proverb that some of you know that I heard my grandfather use but never really applied to me before. He said, it goes, "A silent mouth is sweet to hear." Well, I'm going to yield to that proverb.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: We'll miss you too, Joe.
Kiran Chetry, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Oh, no, we've got another year coming up with Joe.
JOHNS: I love Joe Biden.
ROMANS: There's more Joe in store. I can't wait.
JOHNS: Our staff just happened to give us some other Joe Biden favorites. Not all this year. This was one I just loved. "I'm proud to call him my friend, a man who will be the next president of the United States, Barack America."
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: We actually have a whole long list of Joe Bidenisms. So, I'm sure we'll get more next year. It's funny. I had an old proverb from my grandfather, you have two ears and one mouth. So, listen twice.
So, when you're in Washington, you're -- you know, you're paid to talk, I guess.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
ROMANS: Top stories are coming your way after the break.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANURADHA KOIRALA, CNN HERO: (INAUDIBLE) America, Europe, if someone convinces I want to make your child a prostitute, you would shot them. But here, families -- they are tricked all the time.
Are you Nepalese?
Girls are brought from the villages by people who can lure them and tell them they are getting a nice job.
The border between India and Nepal is the point of trafficking. Once they are here, there's no way to escape.
I am Anuradha Koirala, and it is my strong hope to stop every Nepali girl from being trafficked.
When we go to the borders, exit points, we are intercepting four girls to five girls per day.
Let me see your papers again.
After the rescue, the girl is taken to Maiti, Nepal. We (INAUDIBLE) survivors, trafficking survivors, we take everybody.
The girls who come back (INAUDIBLE), they are totally, psychologically broken. We give them whatever work they want to do, whatever training they want to do. One day, we will really stop it. The trafficking will end.
These are all convicted.
There is always a small (INAUDIBLE) that, yes, one day, I was trafficked. But, today, I have something new in my life. They are my strength.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
